This poor seal never stood a chance against a killer whale.
The orca or killer whale has a reputation for being one of the smartest creatures on Earth. There is also this preconceived cuddly notion about that. Perhaps bolstered by Disney movies and places like Seaworld that make them seem like cute, cuddly animals.
In truth, the orca might be the deadliest and most ferocious predator to swim the world's oceans. What makes them even more frightening to many forms of sea life is that they will hunt in packs and attack animals many times their size. We saw that recently when a group of 70+ teamed to take down a blue whale.
They also have a habit of playing with their food, tormenting, and toying with them before finally going in for the kill. Researchers have seen this behavior most often with seals. The orca in today's video demonstrates just how brutal these animals are when it sends a seal rocketing towards the sky with just one mighty flip of the tail.
We must admit it. We never believed a seal could fly until we saw this video. Can you imagine the confusion of the birds to suddenly see a seal flying around up there with them? This video perfectly demonstrates just how strong these creatures are. A lot of people forget that orcas are not really whales, they are members of the greater dolphin family, which is probably why they are so smart.
The use of the tail to kill a seal is a common hunting technique for the orca. Most scientists believe it is to help them avoid injuries that might come from a struggling seal in the animal's mouth. It is a rough life being a seal in orca territory since the large predators have also been observed snatching seals off ice bergs and even beaches. The whales briefly beach themselves to carry out these attacks. Sometimes they do not even eat these seals, it seems the mammals enjoy killing them for fun!
Knowing that and seeing videos like this just makes us even more glad that orcas do not consider humans to be prey items!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: THE AXIS DEER AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
WATCH
